Deja vu
by mariamcardoso
Summary: Another bounty... another mission! Calisto is their next stop! The cold... Faye never liked it, but he takes her anyway. And something happens again! Something she tries every day to forget. Might become M, might. SxF RR CH5 reposted DROPPED!
1. Chapter 1

We, Mariamcardoso and Blindy, have put our cerebral cortexes together to create a fusion of fantastical storywriting. For both of us, this is our first collaborative piece of work, and we have worked tirelessly to produce the bet piece of writing possible. First, foremost, lastly and leastly, we'd like to thank the internet for making this possible. By connecting two souls who do not know each other and bringing our the best of their abilities, it has enabled the creation of what we know only as...LITERARY FUSION.

* * *

"What the...why do _**I**_ have to go? You two go!" Faye said as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, it's a _hetero_ swing party. Does Jet look like a woman?" Spike looked at Jet, cocked his head and wrinkled his nose, as if trying to imagine Jet in a dress.

"Wha'tchoo lookin' at boy?"

"God no!" Spike sheilded his eyes. "So that only leaves you." Spike sneered at Faye as he lit up a cigarette.

"I hate Calisto…just ice and…the cold. I'm tired of it. I want 40º C!!!" Faye stomped her foot and a pout stretched across her lips.

Jet and Spike look at each other with raised eyebrows. They looked at her with wicked grins on their faces.

"Oh well," Spike sighed, "I guess we'll just have to go hungry for a long, long time."

Jet shrugged. "And that means at least one of us will have to go...probably the most useless one..."

Faye whipped around toward them. "You can't be serious?!"

"I don't know Faye...you know how Jet is about his ship." Spike's grin was becoming increasingly annoying by the second. Faye's eyes darted to Jet, whose facial expression was almost an exact replica of Spike's.

Faye's face twisted in to a snarl as she realized she had lost. "Okay…I'll do it! But I want more than a third! To look beautiful I have to wear a damn dress that shows some skin…"

Spike rolled his eyes. _What else is new!_

"… and I'll be freezing my ass off!"

"You can have my share. I'm not going." Jet's voiced boomed out above the argument.

Spike whirled. "Jet, you're not leaving me with the shrew!"

"Watch me." Jet's gaze remained level, and he seemed to be trying not to blink or laugh...Spike wasn't sure which.

"Afraid I might bite?" Faye ran a fingernail against Spike's jaw, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

He shoved her hand away. "No. Afraid you might screw up…_again_!"

"Lunkhead, "Faye muttered, resorting to her usual tactic of insults as she left the room.

"One more thing," Jet's voice rang from behind her. "You have to leave _tomorrow_. A storm is supposed to form on Calisto sometime in the next couple of days, and it's predicted to last a week. If you get there tomorrow, you'll have just enough time to get under cover before it hits."

Suddenly Faye came stomping back to the living room to stand in front of Jet, seething.

"A _week_? With Spike?! Alone?! I'll have to kill myself!"

"Love you too honey!" Spike said sarcastically from his place on the tattered yellow sofa.

Jet waved Faye off. "Okay, go pack! You can't be late his time!"

Faye left the room without another word, the angry clack of her shoes audible from the living room as she stomped down the hallway toward her room.

"Jet." Spike stood, drawing the last cigarette from his pack and throwing the crumpled box on the table. "One more thing…" He lit up and let out a steady stream of smoke before continuing. "I'm gonna kick your ass all over the place when I get back." Spike began striding lazily toward his room.

Jet shrugged and started toward the kitchen, muttering under his breath. "You'll thank me kid."

* * *

"You two ready?" Jet's gruff voice called from the living room.

"Yeah yeah… we're coming!"

He snorted. "Good. I have something for you!"

Jet opened his hand and gave them two wedding rings.

"You have to be kidding me!" both said in unison.

They put the wedding rings and looked at each other for several seconds. Suddenly, they burst into laughter that did not stop until they were well on their way to Calisto.

Jet sighed and chuckled. "Fucking kids!"


	2. Chapter 2

We, Mariamcardoso and Blindy, have put our cerebral cortexes together to create a fusion of fantastical storywriting. For both of us, this is our first collaborative piece of work, and we have worked tirelessly to produce the bet piece of writing possible. First, foremost, lastly and leastly, we'd like to thank the internet for making this possible. By connecting two souls who do not know each other and bringing our the best of their abilities, it has enabled the creation of what we know only as...LITERARY FUSION.

* * *

"Faye, we have to leave the ships far away from the hotel," Spike's voice crackled over the comm link.

She nodded. "Okay. I see smoke over there. It must be a cabin. Let's put them north of that in the woods. Smoke is a good point of reference."

Spike chuckled. "You amaze me… I thought you didn't have a brain!"

She sneered. "Fuck off, lunkhead."

"You wanna what? There's some static, I couldn't quite get what you said."

"Fucking _prick_..."

Spike smirked and shook his head. _Pissing her off is way too much fun!_

Once they landed, they began to mentally prepare themselves for the wall of cold and ice that awaited them outside of their ships.

"We have to walk a little to get to the hotel. You might want to change into something more…appropriate." Spike's grin was almost audible through the comm link.

Faye scowled. "Fuck…have mentioned that I hate this weather?"

She pressed a button, causing her Redtail's windows to darken. Five minutes later...

"You ready Lunkhead?"

"Yeah."

They got out of their ships and Spike turned to look at Faye.

_I wonder what she calls appropriate dress – whoa..._

Faye was wearing a tight black sweater, a leather coat that reached her knees, tight jeans, and black high heeled boots. She had taken her hair band off and her hair was moving freely with the wind.

Spike grinned to himself. _She looks better in clothes_.

"Oh…I forgot something." Faye turned to rummage around in the Redtail. She started to mutter under her breath. Spike only caught about half of it.

"Where is that thing? Ah! _Found it_!"

She got out of the Redtail, triumphantly holding a scarf.

Spike nodded to himself. _The typical red scarf. Nice._

Faye's voice pierced his thoughts. "Can we go? I'm freezing."

He started, scrambling for words. What was wrong with him? "Y-Yeah…it's really cold."

They grabbed their bags and walked silently until they reached the hotel. Before they entered, Spike grabbed her arm.

"What?" She glared at him, startled.

"Remember…I'll do the talking"

She waved a hand flippantly in his direction. "Sure thing, hubby!"

Spike rolled his eyes, causing her to grin.

"For the love of…" He didn't have time to finish his sentence as Faye shoved him toward the doors and into the hotel.

Once inside, Spike glared at her and began to make his way toward reception.

Clearing his throat, Spike spoke. "Good evening…I believe we made a reservation under the name Jacobs."

"Welcome… Jacobs… Jacobs…yes, here it is. Room 69!" The young man blushed after saying the number of the room and looked at Faye, who smiled seductively.

"Did you hear that, hon? It's our number!" Faye grabbed Spike's arm and leaned against him, still eying the receptionist just enough to make both him and Spike uncomfortable. Spike gave a stiff smile, took her hand, and squeezed it. Hard. She winced and struggled as gracefully as possible out of his grasp.

"Let's try it out hon!" she said, flexing her hand and smiling dangerously.

After a little hemming and hawing, they got the key and proceeded to the elevator.

After the doors closed, Spike raised an eyebrow. "Our number?"

Faye chuckled. "Just tryin' to have some fun! I hate this place, but at least let me have some fun. Did you see the look on that kid's face?"

Spike smiled, remembering the receptionist. "Yeah…the fucker even blushed."

A soft ding interrupted the conversation.

"We're here." Spike moved to exit the elevator, deftly avoiding being shoved by Faye.

Faye made a face. "No shit. Give me the key."

She managed to snatch the keys from his hand and walked ahead of him, searching for their room.

Spike rolled his eyes and followed her. _Like a damn little kid._

Faye found the door and shoved the key card into the slot. The door swung open.

"Oh. My. God." Faye stopped for a moment, before throwing herself forward and jumping onto the king sized bed, landing flat on her back to stare at the ceiling as she gave a squeal of delight and flipped her feet up in the air.

Spike snorted. "Just like a child," he said, lighting up a cigarette.

She sat up. "Shut up! I'm a lady of luxury, remember? I shouldn't even _be_ on the Bebop – casting my pearls before swine!" Sighing dramatically, she hopped off the bed and straightened out her jeans. "By the way, Cowboy, the bed's mine." She mentally braced herself for an argument. It never came.

"Sure."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"No. Do you see the size of that bed? There could be four of us in there. If we each stay on our own side, we won't even notice each other."

Spike put his bags down and sat on the bed.

Faye frowned and shrugged. "Fine. Right side's mine." She shivered. "It's freezing in here. There's got to be some heat somewhere around here. Fucking Calisto. I'm going to take a shower."

A little while later, Faye was in the shower and Spike was feeling a serious urge to use the bathroom.

"Faye! I need to use the bathroom!"

"Okay, okay…be right out. Jesus."

Faye stepped out with a towel wrapped around her body and Spike bolted around her and slammed the door behind him. As Faye started toward her bags, she heard the lock click. "Afraid of peeping toms, are we?" No response. Faye shook her head, pulled out her skanky pyjamas, put them on and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

A flush, and Spike came out of the bathroom. "You look bored."

"I _am_ bored. There's nothing to do in this fucking city."

With that, she placed her feet on the floor, stood up, and made her way back to the bathroom. When she came out again, it was pitch black. She ran into something hard, probably a chair, and cursed.

"Fuck..."

"You're talking to yourself again."

Spike's voice made Faye jump. Once her heart settled down, she replied, "Just cursing the powers that be."

A lazy snort was his only response.

Laying down on the bed, she covered herself and scooched as close to her end as she could. She considered forcing him off the bed but decided that it was a risky idea. Stretching, she felt one of her legs brush his.

"Sorry."

She waited for the sarcastic remark, but it never came.

_Asleep...fucking lunkhead._


	3. Chapter 3

We, Mariamcardoso and Blindy, have put our cerebral cortexes together to create a fusion of fantastical storywriting. For both of us, this is our first collaborative piece of work, and we have worked tirelessly to produce the bet piece of writing possible. First, foremost, lastly and leastly, we'd like to thank the internet for making this possible. By connecting two souls who do not know each other and bringing our the best of their abilities, it has enabled the creation of what we know only as...LITERARY FUSION.

* * *

The room was cold. It seemed impossible that a hotel, or even a house for that matter, wouldn't have any kind of heat source.

Someone was knocking at the door.

_Let me sleep for God's sake!_

As Spike stirred, Faye began to as well.

"What is it?!" Spike was clearly angry. There seemed to be someone at the door but they wouldn't answer him.

_Ruined __your_ _beauty sleep? _She grinned. Mocking Spike was always nice, even if he didn't hear it. After a little while, the person on the other side of the door decided to answer back.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's a letter, sir."

The cold seemed to be disappearing. It was strange though, as no one had turned the (non-existent) heating on. .

"Put it under the door. And stop calling me sir…prick!"

The last word came out as a whisper and Faye smiled at Spike's reaction. Yes, it was the same kid that had been in reception when they'd checked in. As Spike and Faye finally started to wake up, they opened their eyes to notice the unlikely.

Spike was laying on his back. That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was that Faye was practically on top of him; her head was resting in the crook of his neck and her left arm and leg were slung over his chest and waist. Spike smirked and realized that he could hold this against her for the rest of her life...

Until he realized that it wasn't just her.

Spike's left arm was under her neck, stretched across her back and holding her left shoulder. This, he could live with. But the fact that his right hand was not only resting on but actually _grasping_ her upper thigh – more like her lower ass, he thought fleetingly – was enough to make him cringe.

They parted hastily and climbed out of bed, trying to escape the vicious tangle of sheets holding them down. Both fell onto the floor and stuggled voilently to their feet. Once standing, they looked at each other, blushing angrily, and then quickly stomped away, muttering under their breath.

"Pervert."

"Slut."

They took turns in the bathroom. Faye let Spike go in first because he said he wanted to get out to check the whole hotel. When he got out, Faye entered and he dressed as quickly as humanly possible. Within seconds, he was out the door. When she came out, she noticed the letter on the ground and opened it. It was the invitation for the swing party. She dropped it on the bedside table and changed into her clothes.

_A book would be nice. I think I brought one._

Faye might not have seemed like the reading type, but if there was something that gave her pleasure, it was reading a good book. It allowed her escape, even if for a few hours, from her shitty life. Her memory had come back, but as she had told Spike, nothing good had come of it.

After a few seconds looking for the book in her bag, she found it. It wasn't long before she was sprawled on the king size bed and had started reading.

Faye spent the whole afternoon devouring the book and had completely forgotten that her partner hadn't come back yet. Remembering there was a world, she closed the book and set it on the bed. She got up, stretched, yawned and looked out the window.

_It's getting dark. Wow. We have to get ready to the party.__ Where the hell is the Lunkhead?_

Even if he wasn't there, Faye still had to get ready for the party. Spike wasn't going to blow this. She went to the bathroom, undressed and started her shower. The position she and Spike had woken up in flashed through her mind. But the weirdest thing was that Spike had avoided her all day. He wasn't that type of man. They'd probably just moved in the night because of the cold. As she was finishing her shower, she was interrupted by the sound of the door of the room opening and closing.

_At least he's back in time._

Faye decided it was better to say something. She prefered to argue with him or even get her ass kicked by him than letting things get weird because of something so…trivial. "Where have you been?" she called out, turning off the water.

Spike, in the other room, rolled his eyes. _What the hell does she have to do with it?_

"I told you I was going to take a look around the hotel."

Lame excuse. That must be some big ass hotel.

"All afternoon?! Big ass hotel! There must be secret floors." She laughed. She was laughing at him. Oh yeah.

_The bitch reads minds now? She's mocking me. I just wanna… _His memory of that morning flashed through his mind again and he had to clear his head.

"I ended up going outside, too." Best thing he could come up with in five seconds.

"In this cold? God help you!"

She opened the door of the bathroom lightly.

"Do you need the bathroom, Lunkhead?" she asked happily.

He was annoyed as only Spike could be. "Of course! But I have a name, Shrew."

"My, my, my, but so do I!" she spat.

She padded into the room and he passed her at a distance, entering the bathroom to take a nice, hot shower.

She put on her dress quickly while she had the room to herself. Everybody thought the contrary, but Faye, although it didn't look that way, had a problem with being naked in front of anyone. She was afraid someone would mock her body. It might have seemed ridiculous, but that entire tough act was nothing more than a shell she had created. There was no vanity in her – just the need to survive. Showing skin like she usually did was a problem, but to get by, she'd had to get used to it. It had always opened doors for her.

Her dress was a soft black and went all the way down to her ankles and had a slit running up it that reached her right thigh. The two straps of the dress ran down from her shoulders diagonally, widening to cover her breasts and finally meeting just below her bellybutton. She admired her reflection in the full length mirror on the back of the door for a moment before turning to find the rest of her accessories so as to finish her look.

The water stopped running and ten minutes later Spike got out of the bathroom, fully dressed in a black tux. She stood in front of the mirror, wrapping her hair up in a messy bun. Next would be the make up – black eyeliner and some lip-gloss. Pure, simple – very unlike Faye.

_Hum, nice dress you have there, Faye. Can I tear it apart with my teeth? _Spike barely refrained from slapping his own forehead. _What am I thinking? It's the shrew…but she does look better with that dress and make up._

He coughed and she glanced at him with a look that said something like, 'What's that all about?'. She walked over to the bed and sat down, grabbed her black stilettos and put them on. Those heels were like needles.

He studied all of her. She looked like a teenage girl with that make up. He stared at her heels for a few seconds. "Faye, those are like twigs. You might need to run. Can you do that in those?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Better than you think…" She winked at him. "We're good to go. I'm gonna freeze to death! I better take a scarf."

She rummaged through her bag again, and took out a write scarf. Faye strode over to the door, opened it, and left the room, waiting patiently for Spike to follow her and close the door. Spike gave her his arm and she wrapped hers around his and smiled. Once they entered the elevator, Spike spoke.

"So..."

"Yeah?"

"You look…I mean…I like your, um, dress."

"_I like that dress?"! For fuck's sake._

"Thanks!" She smiled for the second time that day.

_A compliment from Spike? That's a__ once in a lifetime thing._

The elevator came to a stop.

"Let's go," Spike said softly.

The door opened and they both flinched, even if only minimally. Standing there in the lobby was none other than their bounty. They started whispering.

"It's him, Spike." She tugged on his arm. She was surprised. Faye had thought it was going to be harder.

"I know. Just keep walking toward the party room." Spike tried to act normal.

"Hell no! If we get him now we might get out of this ice cube before the storm starts." She continued pulling at his arm with an angry look on her face.

"The stormcould start any minute now. Let him be…we'll get him later." Spike was beginning to loose his patience.

The bounty looked at them.

"Right!" She started running towards the guy and drew her gun from her thigh holster. Her scarf fell to the floor in slow motion.

_She can actually ran! What the hell am I thinking? She just blew another bounty. This is the last hunt I take her on!_

The bounty panicked and ran out of the hotel. Faye stopped for a few seconds and Spike ran up to her.

"I told you! Now we lost him because of you!" A vein in his neck looked like it was ready to blow.

"I'll get him! Stop worrying, you pussy!" She ran after the bounty with nothing on but the dress to protect her against the frigid air outside.

"_What_? You _bitch_! Fine! I'll just let her freeze to death!" He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side, looking like a little kid in a pout.

_She'll never catch him! The storm will be starting any minute now. Fuck! _He shook his head. He knew what he had to do._ She's gonna be the death of me, _he thought as he started sprinting toward the door after them…

No.

After her.


	4. Chapter 4

We, Mariamcardoso and Blindy, have put our cerebral cortexes together to create a fusion of fantastical storywriting. For both of us, this is our first collaborative piece of work, and we have worked tirelessly to produce the bet piece of writing possible. First, foremost, lastly and leastly, we'd like to thank the internet for making this possible. By connecting two souls who do not know each other and bringing our the best of their abilities, it has enabled the creation of what we know only as...LITERARY FUSION.

* * *

What made Spike run after Faye? He didn't know.

When he'd come bolting out the doors, Faye was already entering the woods near the hotel. Without thinking twice, he ran after her.

The storm was starting up and Spike was already cold; in a matter of minutes, he would be frozen. He didn't want to think about Faye in that tiny black dress.

* * *

Faye was running after the bounty as fast as she could and she couldn't catch him, but what was really bothering her was that had lost sight of him a couple of minutes ago. She looked back, trying to get at least a glimpse of Spike. No Spike.

_Figures!_

She continued running, gun in hand, and fired once. The bounty yelped.

_He's near._

Suddenly, there was deafening silence, a serious lack of movement. Faye was not dumb. He had stopped, thinking she wouldn't notice and keep going. He was wrong. She stopped abruptly and closed her eyes to give her total attention to the sounds that were surrounding her.

_You're not getting rid of me like that! You must be tired after all this running… breathe for me._

He did. He exhaled heavily. Faye turned abruptly to her right and fired two shots.

* * *

Spike entered the woods but couldn't see her. It was pitch dark, but at least they were protected from the strong wind that the storm was causing. He kept running forward until he heard a shot. His heart skipped a beat and he gave a sharp intake of breath, not quite a gasp. _Faye…_

"Faye?!" he called out in a loud whisper. When there was no answer, he almost panicked. Then he remembered…

_It's Faye we're talking. She's not that easy. Her name must be Hope – the last one to die._

The last shot showed him the way. If the sudden silence was killing him, the extreme cold wasn't helping either. The sudden lack of footsteps made him think the worst. _If she was shot in this freaking storm, she is, most probably, dead!_

The thought hurt more than he thought it would. She was a comrade...no. She was a friend. More. Shit. He couldn't deal with these feelings. Not now.

Spike heard two more shots. He ran towards the sound. Finally, a glimpse of Faye, even if it was just her round ass. She was up and running, so everything was all right.

Spike smiled. It was perhaps the truest smile that had crossed his face since he had lost Julia four years ago.

* * *

After the shots were fired, the bounty started running again. Faye aimed and shot, but the cold was getting to her. She had to continue running or she would freeze.

Finally, Faye exited the woods and came to a stop by a lake house. She knew that house. It was the house Spike and her had used as a reference when they'd arrived. Unfortunately for the bounty, there were no more trees and he was bound to get shot if he didn't stop.

"You'd better stop, you son of a bitch!" she called out angrily. Okay, remember when she told Spike she could run in heels? Well, she could, but not for 100 fucking kilometers and _certainly_ not in some damn forest. Her feet were killing her. For the next, let's say, three months she wouldn't be wearing heels. Hello, 168 cm. Damn.

After a couple of steps, she grinned as the bounty stopped three meters from the door of the lake house.

"That's better."

* * *

Spike continued running and finally…

"You'd better stop, you son of a a bitch!"

If Spike had ever doubted that there was a God, now there was no doubt. Spike exhaled slowly.

_That's my shrew – what the hell was that?_ Spike paused.

"That's better."

It was her again, and he could now see _all_ of her. Legs partly opened, arms at a ninety degree angle, holding her gun and aiming at the bounty.

"Faye…"

Never had he said her name so softly. She was so tense she didn't notice it. He was relieved. She would have asked him about that moment of tenderness if she'd been paying attention. She looked over her shoulder.

"What?!"

The opportunity the bounty was expecting was finally there. He bolted into the house.

"_Fuck_! Thanks Spike."

Her irritation was visible. Trying to go back to his usual self as he moved toward her, Spike said, "It's not my fault."

She ran to the house and kicked the door open. Spike, after realizing that she might need help, drew his weapon and followed her. He caught up with her and they entered the house together. It was abandoned. The smoke they'd seen earlier had probably been the bounty lighting the fireplace. The back door that led to the lake was open; the bounty was not inside anymore.

"Motherfu…"

"Run, shrew!"

For the first time, she did what she was told. Faye exited the house and saw the bounty sitting at the end of the pier putting on some blades to ice skate away from them. She started running toward him. Spike ran through the door after her and stopped when she jumped after him to the lake. Faye shot once as a warning and the bounty stopped and turned around, aiming a gun at her. Aiming at each other, they both grinned. The bounty lowered the gun.

"You know, I have a problem shooting women."

Faye laughed. "That's good to know."

Spike couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew something wasn't right. The guy could have run away from them with no problem at all.

Shots were fired and the bounty hunters' hearts stopped for a moment. The bounty shot the ice and it began to break beneath Faye. She looked around. It was suddenly impossible to reach safety without falling into the water.

Spike started running. The faster he wanted to move, the slower he seemed to run. He was in slow motion. The thump of his feet on the wood pier was now slower than ever.

"Faye! Get out of there!"

He didn't see the situation as Faye did. She was going to sink and she would pass out within seconds in this cold. Spike jumped to firm ice and looked around. There was no way to get to her without falling in too.

"Faye! Listen."

Faye turned around to look at Spike. Never had he seen Faye so scared in his life. The panicked look on her face while trying to stay on top of the ice as long as she could tightened Spike's heart.

"You have to swim and try to reach firm ice so I can get you out."

As she realized that she was indeed going to fall to the extremely cold water, she froze in place, and Spike's words were the last thing she heard.

"Help m…"

As the ice began to settle, the piece supporting Faye abruptly cracked in half and she began to sink into the icy waters.


	5. Chapter 5

We, Mariamcardoso and Blindy, have put our cerebral cortexes together to create a fusion of fantastical storywriting. For both of us, this is our first collaborative piece of work, and we have worked tirelessly to produce the bet piece of writing possible. First, foremost, lastly and leastly, we'd like to thank the internet for making this possible. By connecting two souls who do not know each other and bringing our the best of their abilities, it has enabled the creation of what we know only as...LITERARY FUSION.

* * *

Spike ran as fast as he could to Faye but it still wasn't fast enough for him. He couldn't take another woman dying in front of him. 

A woman and a man dying was not the same thing. Men tried to die with honor when there was no such thing. Women, well…the woman always died with pleading eyes, making the person watching feel eternally guilty, even if there was nothing he or she could have done. Spike knew the feeling.

It wasn't the same as watching Julia die because Julia was...well, she was Julia. Faye was Faye. Two different women, two different loves. The problem was, Spike hadn't yet realized that he loved the shrew – well, he realized it, all right, but he had a serious case of denial. Either way, it was affecting him – ever since the day he'd gone to Vicious, he'd known that Faye considered him and everyone else on the Bebop as something more than just comrades. But maybe she had a thing for him...maybe...what, the shrew?! Of course not.

Spike had to admit that Faye was the most courageous person he'd ever met. Julia wasn't like her; she'd chosen to run for the rest of her life. Faye always put the people she loved and trusted before anything else – to the point of sacrificing her life. Spike was sure of it. She'd finally found the family she'd always wanted to have, no matter how dysfunctional, and she wouldn't let go of it even if it meant eternal torture. Neither Spike nor Jet had the courage to admit that they were a family inside of that god-forsaken ship. Only Faye had had the balls (and she was the female one, here) to admit it.

As Spike looked on, the cracks in the ice stopped increasing and he finally reached the place where Faye had sunk not moments before. He put his arm under the water and flinched at the sudden cold enveloping his limb. Reaching frantically, trying to come into contact with anything that could have been her, he felt his fingertips brush something oddly warm in the water as it sunk just out of his grasp. She was sinking.

Faye dimly felt a hand grab out at her. _Help me_, she cried out mentally. _Don't let me sink..._ She closed her eyes and let herself succumb to the bitter cold engulfing her. There was no more she could do. Her vision began to darken...

Spike was frantic and having a hard time keeping his cool at this point. She was falling from his grasp. He would pull her out, even if he had to grab her by her hair. He laid on the ice and took a deep breath. If he fell in, that was it for both of them. He looked behind him and spotted a tree root. Wrapping his legs around it, he turned back toward the water and sucked in another deep breath and held it. Closing his eyes, he plunged his upper half into the water, the shock of the cold causing his head to ache. He couldn't see anything in the murky water and it hurt to open his eyes. He stretched one hand out, trying desperately to find her. His arm brushed against something...he lost it...he moved back...there it was! He got a hold of what seemed to be her shoulder and grabbed it with all the strength he could muster. His arm was already going numb.

_Hang on, Faye_, he thought.

The sound of his own voice echoing around his skull instilled a terror in him. A terror that he would lose Faye. _Who would have thought that I could feel this way about the shrew?_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Spike pulled Faye out of the freezing water and held her head above the surface while he stuggled to find stable ground to brace himself against in order to pull her out. Her lips already had a purple tone and as Spike forced her to stand and leaned her toward him, he couldn't feel her breathing. 

He looked at the ominous clouds hanging over them and he heard the wind begin to pick up, blowing icily over their two cowering forms. He lifted her into his arms and began to run toward the cabin as fast as he could.

He found the path easily and felt branches and twigs brush against his clothes and scratch his face. He didn't pause; he powered forward, feet slipping and occasionally sticking in the mud, leaves and snow that covered the path.

The storm was starting to get serious when Spike reached the cabin, and he lost no time in getting inside. He closed the door and immediately laid Faye on the ground. He leaned his ear to her mouth. Nothing. He put his fingers in her neck looking for pulse. Again, nothing.

"Fuck!"

Spike put his hands on her chest and started CPR.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, breathe."

He clamped her nose shut and blew inside her mouth. She didn't move.

"C'mon Faye… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, breathe."

He repeated his actions. Nothing.

"1, 2, wake up damn it, 4, 5, breathe."

She still wouldn't breathe.

Spike continued CPR faster and pressing his hands harder to her chest.

"Faye...wake...the...fuck...up...breathe!"

Faye started coughing and water was thrown into Spike's face. Faye rolled on her side and started coughing uncontrollably. Spike released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and started rubbing Faye's back.

"Jesus… Faye, look at me."

Faye's cough started diminishing and she looked up at Spike. She looked bedragled. Blood shot eyes, purple lips, blue skin trembling from the extreme cold and wet from head to toe. Never had she looked more beautiful to Spike. He hugged her then.

"Spike…"

"Shhh, don't talk. I'll see what I can find in this hell hole. There must be something here that we can use. Don't move. Just breathe. You probably have hypothermia."

Tears started to fall down Faye's face. He laid her slowly down onto the floor and ran upstairs looking for some blankets, something to keep her warm. In the bedroom he found a bed with no mattress and three blankets. He grabbed the blankets and runs to Faye.

Faye's breathing was quick and shallow and her eyes were shut. Spike kneeled next to her and spread a blanket beside to her.

"Faye… You awake?"

"Y-yeah."

"I'm going to undress you. You're clothes are soaking wet. If you go to the next stages of hypothermia you'll probably die."

"Tha-That's good to k-know."

He chuckled. Her shivers become stronger.

"You c-couldn't wa-wait to get me n-naked, c-could you?"

"That's exactly it."

In spite of the situation he smiled. She opened her eyes and smiled too. He helpd her sit up and unziped the dress. As he touched her, he flinched. Her temperature was dropping. He laid her down again, took off her shoes and threw them somewhere.

"D-Don't throw them li-like that. You'll ru-ruin them."

"Faye, right now I don't give a shit about your shoes. I never have."

Faye grunted and winced.

"I'm so-so cold."

Spike started to undress her.

"I know. Faye, I need you to do two things for me."

"Great ti-me to-to ask f-favors, Spike."

He ignored her comment and spoke.

"The first is that you will tell me if you feel any different, if you're colder, hotter, shivering more, get goose bumps, etc. Anything. The second is that I need you to do whatever I tell you. You can ask questions but only while you're doing what I tell you to. Get it?"

While speaking to her he took her dress off and now she only had her panties on.

"Y-yes master."

She tried to cover herself with her arms.

"And stop joking.", he growled. "You could have died!"

Suddenly Faye opened her eyes and to peer at Spike. Her eyes started to water. He took off her underwear and picked her up, only to put her down seconds later on the blanket.

She struggled with herself, her muscles slowly responding to her brain, and lay on her side, her back to Spike. Spike sighed and covered her from head to toe with the other two blankets.

"Sorry…"

She finally allowed herself to cry.

"Give me your hand."

A shaking hand appeared from under the blankets and Spike grabbed it with his.

"Touch your thumb with your little finger."

Her hand started to move and after some effort the two fingers touched.

"Good."

He put her hand back under the blanket.

"I'm going to look for some wood upstairs. I'm probably going to have to break the bed and the rest of the bedroom furniture."

After five minutes of no Spike, Faye heard Spike grunting and the sound of wood breaking. After several similar sounds, Faye heard a loud noise near her and jumped.

"It's me. I have some wood."

His breathing was rapid, deep.

"You scared me. I can at least get warmer."

"You're not going to go anywhere near that fireplace and neither am I."

"Why not?" her muffled voice asked.

"Because it will only make you get worse."

Spike started to put wood in the fireplace and, with his lighter and a piece of paper, lit it.

"Spike, I think I'm better. I'm feeling hotter." Just as she finished, though, Faye shivered uncontrollably and moaned.

"I'm cold again. Very cold."

"Shit. You're entering stage two. My clothes are soaked, too, so I can't give them to you."

Spike started to undress and throw his clothes near the fireplace so they could dry.

He lifted the two blankets that covered Faye and lay next to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.

"Spike?"

"I need to get your temperature higher."


End file.
